Grade Two Already?

The start of the school year brings with it a certain sense of anticipation, of opportunity, of great things that could happen.

Beth and I have been preparing for this year, particularly in Jan, with lots of short random exposures to online general knowledge quizzes (she loves the history of Ancient Greece), assessment books and some hard thinking about what she can and should achieve.

For Math, the goal is to get her to memorize as much of the times table as she can manage. I know she probably compares dismally with her Sg peers, but I'm trying not to stress us both out. I just want to get her to a level where she can 'get it' and start to be more self-directed in her motivation and desire to learn.

For Chinese, we're continuing with the Werribee Chinese School, which this year has moved to Point Cook Community Centre, a much nicer learning environment than Glen Orden PS. I told Beth her Chinese school is located next to the new Point Cook library. She loves books, so a trip to the library will be one of the motivators for turning up to class every Sat and doing her homework, which from this year on will be required to be done daily.

I'm glad the WCS is starting to demand more of its students. There was a time when I was weighing up whether to continue with the school. Being a community language school, it caters to the middle (or even the lower spectrum, meaning those who come from non-Chinese backgrounds) and asks so little of its students, which of course translates into mediocre language outcomes. I even rang the Braybrook Xin Jin Shan Language School, but they don't have classes for Beth's age group. Pity. I might enrol Jordanne next year though, so that she gets a headstart in learning the language.

For music, Beth is starting her third year with Yamaha.

The old question of private-vs-group tuition is looming again, for a very practical reason. If she is to meet the entry requirements for a music scholarship, she must have at least a Grade 5 AMEB at Year 7. Working backwards, this is the year she should start on her AMEB. At the rate she is going, I'm not sure she is even equipped to sit an exam. She still struggles to sight-read and prefers to play from memory. When I try to teach her, she gets upset and I get exasperated and lose my temper. I keep thinking: why can't you focus? Why aren't you sitting up properly? What do you mean you can't read the music? A qualified, experienced teacher who loves working with kids would probably take a more positive approach.

Beth's after-school schedule is even more packed than 2009.
Wed - swimming
Thu - jujitsu
Sat - music and Chinese

Most of her classes are for an hour, except for swimming (30 mins) and Chinese (3 hrs!!). It's the driving back and forth that takes up so much time. But I shouldn't complain. I'm helping (I hope) to build my child's character, resilience, social and kinesthetic intelligence.

When Does The Sun Rise And Set In Melbourne?

Stumbled on this nugget while trying to find out what time sunset will take place in Q2.

This page works out the times for sunrise and sunset when you select the month and year you want.

For example, if I select May 2010, I learn that the sun rises between 7.01 and 7.25 (rising later as we progress into winter) and sets between 5.33 and 5.10 (setting later as the month draws to a close, meaning the days get shorter).

It's very handy when you need to make decisions like 'Which are the months to avoid if I send my child to sports activities, given that I can't see well enough to drive once the sun sets?' and 'Should I sign my child up for the 6-7 pm class or the 6.30-7.30 pm class?'

Answer: Avoid Terms 2 and 3.

Next thing to do: Get a pair of glasses with yellow lenses to improve night driving capability.

Thoughts on our first family camping trip

9 Jan 2010 will remain one of our family's fondest memories.

That was the day we finally - after months of talking and surfing the net and planning - experienced what it was like to go camping like any regular Aussie.

Imagine a whole bunch of strangers congregating in one sprawling tourist park for the same reason: pitching tents, setting up deck chairs, grilling dinner over a Weber, gathering around a fire to sing American Pie to guitar accompaniment (very good singing and strumming it was too), teens trying out dance moves and doing handstands, kids running barefoot, friends drinking beer and chatting late into the night while the sun refused to go down till after 9 pm.

The most magical moment must have been when we were snugly tucked in under our quilt listening to all the activity that was still going on outside. Knowing that we were not alone, that we were part of this massive meeting of strangers-with-a-common-purpose, at whom we smile and nod but will probably not see again.

Wow.

Even the accommodation options were amazing.

There were caravans and campervans. The van next in the next space proclaimed Wicked Campers. (We later saw a number of Wicked Campers vans on the GOR on our way home.)

People who had brought only their tents (like us) and people who had brought their entire outdoor furniture sets.

People who had their own BBQ equipment and were barbequing like old pros, and people who used the camp kitchen to rustle up instant noodles and luncheon meat (like us).

People with boats.




The Great Ocean Road Tourist Park is perfect for first-time campers. It's got cabins, a central brick building housing the bathrooms and laundry, another building for kitchen and indoor games, a playground, and a huge grassy area for the powered and unpowered sites with the numbers of the lots painted on the grass.





And the cost?

$42 for one night for the four of us. You can't get much cheaper, unless you go bush (no thanks....yet!).

We're thinking Wilsons Prom next.

And Philip Island. Anglesea. Lorne. Torquay. Warrnambool.

Travelling in Australia is double the fun when you can save heaps of $$ by camping.

The savings can go to special treats, like Timboon Fine Ice Cream - Mmmm!

2010: A New Decade Begins

It doesn't seem so long ago that I was counting down to the new school term.

We're now two days into 2010 and I'm thinking: where have the hols gone? A couple of weeks more and we'll be back into the grind of morning rush hour, afternoon swim lessons, Sat keyboard and Chinese class...

On 30 Dec, Mandy organized for the Sunday School kids to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, at Werribee Regina Cinemas. My good intentions of going for the 10.45 Body Vive class at Fenix Fitness were scuttled when Beth insisted tearfully that I be with her for the movie. This is my second visit to the cinema in three years, a record I am proud of. Cinema tickets cost a fortune here. $16 for an adult ticket! And a medium popcorn costs $6.50. How do ordinary families afford it?

On New Year's Eve, we invited our friends Michael and Clara over for dinner. On the menu were Hainanese Chicken Rice (anything is possible with Prima Paste), Thai green curry, fish assam pedas, pappadum and a lovely choc mud cake with ice cream after the countdown and the TV screening of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (a movie Michael commented never seemed to end).

We had such a good time that the following night, it was our turn to be guests at Michael and Clara's. Pizzas, heaps of cushions, a game of Monopoly between Michael and Beth, and two movies: Monkey Magic and Forbidden Kingdom. Both movies had Sun Wukong as the central character. MM was pure comedy (audio in Japanese) , FK was drama/fantasy with a nice spin. An American (Anglo Saxon) teenage boy is magically taken back in time by the staff of Sun Wukong and is dragged into the conflict between the evil Jade Warlord and the fearsome Witch reared by werewolves on one side, and an unlikely trio ( two monks and a young girl bent on vengeance) who are trying to defeat the Jade Warlord and recover Sun Wukong's missing staff before it falls into the enemy's hands. The boy eventually helps to resurrect Sun Wukong, who has been turned into a stone monkey by the Jade Warlord.

Today, we drove to Abbotsford to check out the Convent Arts Precinct and Collingwood Children's Farm.

We particularly enjoyed lunching at Lentil As Anything, a vegetarian restaurant staffed by volunteers where you pay as you feel. They were running a buffet lunch when we were there and the kids loved the food, which is saying something as there were no pizzas, pasta, chips or fries in sight. Beth had the privilege of putting our contribution into the wooden money chest on the counter. There's something very special and inspiring about coming to a place where nothing is expected of you, everyone is friendly and you know you're doing your little bit to be part of something that is creating a greater good.

Another reason we're grateful to be living in AUS, where there is always something new to see and do every weekend.

Summer Project

We are researching caravan parks in preparation for The Great Camping Adventure, which hubby has thrown up for consideration over many months with mounting excitement (not a shared sentiment though).

The resident kuniang (Pampered Princess) is being reluctantly co-opted into an outing that is bound to involve pesky mozzies, summer flies, minimal hygiene, inclement weather conditions and other unmentionables.

What kind of holiday is one without a 5-star resort, pool and luxury spa?

It used to be 2-2, with Beth and I being on the same side (the Dark side, some might say!).

She has somehow fallen under the spell of outdoorsy Dad's tempting tales of going bush, camping under the stars and all that boot camp stuff and straightaway fell to unpacking the tent he had just bought.

She even tried to read the instruction manual, but failed.

And asked me for help.

Which of course was no help at all.

Dad finally came to the rescue.

Father and Daughter eventually worked out how to peg the tent, and got it set up all ready for The Big Day.

In the meantime, Beth and Jordanne can have fun with their new cubbyhouse!

Maybe I should organize a couple of play dates between now and when we go camping...

The Gingerbread Man Comes To Play

Day 7 of the school hols.

Last night, we were at our friend Kathleen's for a dinner-cum-meeting for her impending one-year missions trip to S Africa. God has spoken to her and she will be volunteering at AIDS orphanages in Pretoria with Operation Mobilisation.

My job in 2010 is to be Kat's accountability and morale support star. To encourage, hold her to account, let her know the church loves and remembers and is praying for her. To do everything I can to keep up her spirits as she goes on her life-changing adventure.

I don't think I'll ever have the courage to do what she is doing. Scott Wesley-Brown's song Please Don't Send Me To Africa has long been my silent prayer whenever CA (teasingly) suggests that God might send me out as a missionary. :-(

The forecast for today is 39 deg.

Beth and I did our shopping straight after dropping Jordanne off at daycare, while it was still reasonably cool.

Couldn't help noticing the disparity between our dressing and other shoppers'. They were in tank tops, shorts, sun dresses. Beth had on a long-sleeved T and trackies, I had on a polo shirt and jeans. In our family, we do take SunSmart-ness to an extreme. ;-)

We bought a nice piece of salmon from the fishmonger, and a kilo of chicken thigh fillet with which to cook Hainanese Chicken Rice. (The authentic way is to use a whole chicken, but you're not getting this squeamish chef to handle a WHOLE chicken any time. Gross!)

Things to accomplish today:

• Bake gingerbread girls and boys.
• Cut Beth's fringe.
• Take Beth for her last swimming lesson of the year.

We actually ticked them all off!

At Safeway, we found writing icing that came in a convenient pack of four colours. Of course, Beth chose to use all the colours on her creations. At Beth's insistence, I tried my hand at icing, but my gingerbread boy came out with a wobbly grin.

The fringe came out crooked, in spite of many attempts to fix it. Don't you just wish kids would sit still when they need to!

The Leisure Centre pools were packed. The school hols have begun in earnest, and everywhere there were hordes of school kids splashing around and screaming like they had so much to ventilate, anxious parents surveying the masses of moving bodies to see that they still had their kids in sight, instructors vainly attempting to make themselves heard above the din...

From my vantage point, I could make out David (Beth's instructor) holding out a hoop and Beth doing a funny twist as she swam through confidently. It's beautiful seeing her enjoy swimmming and doing so well that her instructor asks another student to copy what Beth has just done.

Who would've known the terrified toddler who wouldn't put a toe in the waters off Gold Coast 6 years ago would grow to become a water baby?

Corner Block: To Live Or Not To Live (On One)

My aunt who's visiting from Sg just gave me her take on why not to live on a corner block.

"When it's windy, your house gets very cold because the wind can come in from any direction. Plus, you have a huge backyard with few trees to screen out the wind. If there are houses on either side of you, the wind comes in from only the front or back. Your house stays warm."

She was comparing the livability of my place with my cousin's. She considers my house cold (notwithstanding the recent insulation job) and my cousin's two-storey townhouse nice and warm as it's sheltered on both sides by houses and there are mature trees in the backyard.

Just another of those things we learn only from experience...